The expulsion of two German diplomats, which is a mirror response to similar actions by official Berlin, is a highly balanced and accurate decision, the purpose of which is not to spoil relations between Russia and Germany. In fact, the situation called for more drastic measures, since the reaction of the German Foreign Ministry to the assassination of former militant Zelimkhan Khangoshvili should be considered premature and biased.
Only at the end of the investigation, if it had really established that one of the Russian special services was behind this crime, could the expulsion mechanism be launched. But the investigation is not completed, and all the accusations against Russia from a legal point of view are only assumptions, the validity of which depends solely on how the person accepting or rejecting this version relates to Russia.
The foreign ministry of Germany, apparently, believes that no one else, except for Russian intelligence, could have committed such a murder, and does not need any evidence of a Russian trace. And so everything is clear. However, far from everything is clear, and that is why Moscow’s response to the expulsion could be asymmetric and much tougher. In addition, the haste of the German Foreign Ministry is not the only reason why Russia has the right to express its dissatisfaction. Vladimir Putin spoke of other aspects of this case in Paris after the meeting in the Norman format.
Khangoshvili was a ruthless and dangerous terrorist, guilty of the death of a significant number of people - tens or even hundreds. According to the head of the Russian state, “a man died in Berlin, he took an active part in the hostilities on the side of the separatists in the Caucasus, he is not Georgian by nationality. This man was wanted by us, an action movie, and a very tough and bloody man. In only one of the actions in which he took part, 98 people were killed by him. He was one of the organizers of the explosions in the Moscow metro. ” Russia has repeatedly sent requests to extradite Khangoshvili to Berlin on the basis of information about the crimes he committed, but Germany for some reason considered that a Chechen fighter had the right to defend her.
Moreover, the fact that such characters in Germany are treated without any disgust is evidenced by material prepared by the state television and radio company Deutsche Welle (Deutsche Welle). In it, the terrorist is called the "Georgian dissident", "a veteran of the second Chechen war of 1999-2009," who fought against the Russians in Chechnya, and then worked against Russia in Georgia and Ukraine.
German journalists do not see anything shameful in the past as a "dissident" and a "veteran". On the contrary, the story of him is imbued with respect and sorrow.
This is not the only example of this kind. Most Chechen refugees from Russia settled in Germany. The same Deutsche Welle regularly prepares sympathetic stories about them. Other German media also constantly depict their heroic struggle with Russia during two Chechen campaigns, losing sight of the fact that freedom fighters massively committed monstrous murders, the cruelty of which should ward off any normal person from them.
Honestly, the mirror answer seems to me an exorbitantly mild solution, since this case has a lot of aggravating circumstances, which I described above. The Russian Foreign Ministry does not want to worsen bilateral relations, but when representatives of the German Foreign Ministry call the expulsion of diplomats an “unjustified” step by Moscow, which sends an “incorrect signal”, this seems to be a manifestation of a very specific sense of humor.
Firstly, the mutual exchange of deportees is a mandatory procedure in diplomatic practice, provided for in Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. Secondly, Russia sincerely does not understand why European countries continue to provide asylum to people who have committed the most serious crimes during the two Chechen wars. According to some reports, the Chechen diaspora in Europe now has about 300 thousand people. Over 80% of them live in Germany.
The Khangoshvili case will serve as a subject of political speculation for a long time to come. It is noteworthy that Russia was found guilty even before the investigation established the customers of the murder. This approach has become canonical for the collective West, and, unfortunately, it is demonstrated not only by media or individual politicians, but also by governments. This is surprising, since the principle of the presumption of innocence in European law has not been canceled, including for our country.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.